Does the Past Haunt Your Marriage?

Has your marriage suffered some deep wounds? Even those from many years ago can hinder our present relationship if we let them.
It is true that sometimes healing a broken heart takes time. But all the time in the world cannot do what God can do when we surender our hurts and pain to Him.

I have a feeling that there are many of you that live every day with pain in your heart and no one else knows about it.

Words and actions that have wounded you to the bottom of your heart and your thoughts can't seem to get past them.

You justify the walls you put up because, you are not about to be hurt again!

1. God Desires to Heal Your Brokenheart

Psalms 34:18
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
NIV

You may think that no one knows, but God has seen it all.
He sees how deeply you hurt and He is close to you. He wants to bind up your wounds and heal the brokenness that has crippled you for so long.

Ps 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
NIV

2. Bring Him Your Brokenheart.

Let me share the verse that set my heart free:

Matt 11:28-12:1
28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I
will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is
easy and my burden is light."
NIV

He sent His son...now it's your move.
Come to Him.

And when we do come to Him, He fills us with His life.
Or as God's Word says, He fills our dry empty lives with the water that brings life:

John 7:37-38
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living
water will flow from within him."
NIV

Can I ask those of you that are hurting...how long has it been since you've experienced streams of living water...in your marriage?

It is not hard to go to Him.
Pray.
No fancy words necessary, just pour your heart out and ask Him to heal it.

3. Pray for your marriage, everyday.

Ask the Lord soften your heart and to fill it fresh with faith, hope and love.

The past does not need to dictate your future.
The God who spoke the world into existence, the God who created everything we see is on your side. He wants to see you free from the chains of the past and walking in the freedom of love and forgiveness.

Does this post hit home with you?
Please drop me an email or leave me a comment. I'd love to hear your story...or at least know you are out there!

I'm praying for our marriages,

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What makes a woman a great leader?

Recently, I was asked to do some leadership training/teaching for a women’s group. On my own I feel completely inept to take on such a task, but as I look into God’s Word I see that Jesus displayed leadership very clearly. He has given us a beautiful example of leadership to follow.

If we want to be a great leader, we need to look to our Savior. We need to follow hard after Him (and His heart) and the result will be that our leadership will come from a heart of love to those we are leading.

Here are a couple of the things Jesus did to show us how to lead:

Jesus knew that the most important thing about being a leader, was serving the people you are called to lead.

Mark 9:35
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
NIV

Note that Jesus tells them this because they were arguing about who was the greatest!
Some things never change huh?
I would have taken this opportunity to give them a talkin’ to and probably called them selfish little brats. Instead, Jesus tells them something that makes them think about their motives and He shows them what their true priorities should be.

Matt 23:11-12
The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
NIV

Leadership is not about greatness, it is about humility and serving others.

Another leadership cue we take from Jesus is that He knew when to say no.

John 11:2-6
3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."

4 When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
NIV

Quite clearly, Jesus’ answer was no, He would not drop what He was doing and come. But, He had a plan they did not understand.

John 11:14-15
14 So then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
NIV

John 11:40
40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
NIV

John 11:43-44
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
NIV

By Jesus saying “no” they were able to see the glory of God through Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

Sometimes we need to say no. If we don’t, we will be completely out of the will
of God and others will not see the glory of God.

The immediate need is not always the greatest need.

As leaders we need to have discernment about what we commit ourselves to. We need to know if the Lord is directing us or if He is telling us “no” or “wait.”

There are many opportunities to do good things, pray about which good things the Lord would have you do. Our priorities need to be in order, or we could run ourselves ragged doing “the work of the ministry” all the while missing God’s will in our life. And we could end up missing the opportunity for God to receive the glory He so rightfully has due Him!

So…we’ve heard the phrase “man-up” which means to act like the man God created them to be, well I say~

“Woman-UP”
Follow hard (after your God) and lead soft (with love)!

Hurting, struggling, tired...looking for a reason for faith and hope?

I'm loving this!



I would love to hear why you're singing!

The Whole World Stinks!

Today I have another guest post from my friend Denise.
Denise and I spent part of the day together yesterday, she is one of those special friends that makes a trip to the coffee shop for a vanilla latte on her way to my house! It's hard to find such good friends :)

We had lots of fun talking, laughing...working on blog issues (does anyone know if you can change your primary email on your blogger blog???)...which we never figured out and ended up talking about how excited we are to go to a writer's conference together this summer (insert squeeeeel!)~ and not everyone would be as thrilled (writer nerds unite!)~ so it's wonderful to have Denise in my life, she is a gift.

If you've ever had a bad day, you will enjoy this article!

You can click on the picture to read more at her blog...the story about their trip to the photographer is priceless-one we can probably all relate to!

Have you had one of those days? Where, literally, everything stinks? I did today.

The farmer across the field from us is spreading manure over the fields. I think he has found the nastiest stinkiest ickiest manure he had from sitting there all winter and decided to spread it as far away from his house as he could, so it’s right next to ours. He started doing this yesterday, he finished up today. It’s a big tractor, it’s a HUGE stink.

This morning, we overslept – again. Since this spring time change, I cannot seem to get in the groove of it. My first thought was “oh no!” followed by “what is that smell?”.

This is not the way to start the day.

Our youngest had the flu on Sunday. Today he had the diarrhea. I would walk into the room where he and older brother were playing, get a whiff and say “are you stinky?” His brother would answer “He is VERY stinky.”

I have been changing diapers for nine solid years. I share my home with four boys and my husband and ONE bathroom. So when I tell you he stunk badly, believe me, he did.

It just wasn’t a good day. It was cloudy and dreary and so windy the boys couldn’t really go outside to burn off energy. I spent the day over tired, the boys were at each others throats (when I say that, believe me, they really are. It’s an art form, really, to strangle your brother and be away from him and on the couch before the storming mother enters the room to save the screaming one), my husband’s tractor broke and he couldn’t fix it, the laundry was insurmountable, the awful smell was everywhere and when my husband came in to tell me the fertilizer he had gotten for the asparagus wouldn’t spread I thought, ‘that figures, because this whole day stinks.’

And when I said that, I realized it was my attitude that stunk the most. It was the stinkiest thing I had surrounding me!

So, while my husband ran to town for fertilizer and took one of the four boys with him that needed “alone daddy time” the most, I sat down to do my Bible study. The one I had not done due to the awful day. Since the Beth Moore conference – let me say here that I had NEVER heard of Beth Moore before the Praise and Coffee conference and that it touched me deeply, that weekend – I have been doing the “Loving Well” workbook. Today it was on “Joy”. I nearly laughed out loud when I read the title.

The last part of the day’s worksheet was to think of the people who bring us joy, who are a joy to love, and I got caught up in writing some notes. I had thought to do it later, when I had time, but Curious George was entertaining the crowd and there never really IS time so I took advantage of that and spent the show writing a few “it’s a joy to love you” cards. I kid you not, the sunshine came out as I worked. I felt smiled upon.

Love With No Regrets

A simple but profound truth.
The greatest love is displayed in us as we lay down our own wants and needs (our life) for the wants and needs of others.

Today let's look at this verse in light of our marriages.
What part of my life (wants, needs, desires) can I lay down for my husband?

There can be no regrets when we choose to love the way that Jesus loved.

I'm praying for our marriages!

Ever thought of hosting a Praise and Coffee Night?

If you live near Plainwell, Michigan...I hope you come out to my Praise and Coffee Nights. But if you are not in this neck of the woods and want to do one in your own community- YOU SHOULD!

Check out my other blog about hosting a Praise and Coffee Night.

Facing a Red Sea?

With an angry mob following close behind you?
Don't fear, trust in the Lord.

He has experience dealing with these kinds of things!

He delivered His children...
Exodus 14:21-22
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
NIV

Then he took care of their enemies...
Ex 14:23-31
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."

26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen." 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen — the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
NIV

Nothing is too big for our God!!!
That same God who did these miracles cares deeply about you and your life circumstances.

I Highly Recommend

I am doing a study right now now (for the second time!) that I want to encourage you to order. No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord right now- this CD series will speak to you.

It is powerful!!!

Whether you sit and study it out or just listen to the CD's you will love it.

It will minister to you about the obstacles in our lives that keep us from the life and joy that God has for us.

It's Beth Moore's Spiritual Mapping

Click on the link and order it today. I promise it will bless you.

He IS

. (period)

How does that change your life?

Ex 3:14
14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.
This is what you are to say to the Israelites:
'I AM has sent me to you.'"
NIV

There is a Holy Spirit and it's not me!

Originally posted February 5, 2008:

Mark and I have been married over 20 years. As we’ve ‘grown together in the grace of life’ we have both learned much about each other and much about how God wants us to treat one another.

Mark was raised in a Christian home, but really started serving the Lord around the time we got married. I had been raised Catholic, but didn’t come to know the Lord until I was in high school. It was then that I started living for the Lord, and so when Mark and I got married, I was the “stronger one spiritually.” I use that phrase loosely because even though I had a few more years of Biblical teaching under my belt, I was anything but spiritually strong. However, I sure thought I was!

We both wanted to live for the Lord and serve Him with our whole hearts. But, I continued to see things in my husband that needed “fixing.” I made it my job in life to “fix” him because as anyone could tell, I was more spiritually mature than he. (ha!)

I thought he should pray more, so I would drop little hints about it and put him on the spot when I saw fit. I thought he should read his Bible more, so I made sure it was strategically placed for him to find it and every chance I had I would let him know that it was something he should be doing more of.

I was stealth I tell you! I made sure that he knew there was more he should be doing for the Lord. After all- if I didn’t, who would? And let me tell you, it’s not easy being stealth when you have a giant plank sticking out of your eye getting in the way all the time! I had to work hard at it.

Then there were my moments of condescension. I could so easy manipulate a conversation to let him know that he needed to be a better Christian. Mind you…this was all while I was being a good and submissive wife. I truly felt that I was doing all the right things and that the Lord was leading me in my controlling ways.

I’m not sure how long it was before my husband starting saying, “Hark, what is that I hear? Is that the Holy Spirit speaking?”

Of course at first, I knew this was just rebellion. Surely God was about to “get him.” How dare he blame me when he is the one with the obvious issues!

Until, I finally heard the still small voice of the actual Holy Spirit speaking to my heart and telling me how wrong I was. This was not an overnight lesson for me. I have learned this, repented and turned around time after time and done the same thing over again.

Eventually I realized the destruction I was bringing in our relationship and the lack of trust that I had in the Lord.

I saw that when I would shut my mouth about a situation and pray and then truly give it to God, He would intervene and do a mighty work in my husband and in me.

The key, I have learned, is stepping out of the way.

Let God be God, let the Holy Spirit do the correcting, training and teaching in both of our lives.

I had a need to control. That need was based on the fact that I did not trust that the Lord answered my prayers. I did not trust that the Holy Spirit would actually speak to my husband about leading our family. That’s really hard to admit, but it’s true. I felt that I could do a better job leading my husband than the Holy Spirit could.

John 16:13-14
3 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
NIV

1 Peter 1:2
2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit
NIV

Did you catch that? “The sanctifying work of the Spirit.”

The Spirit does the work. The Spirit is the one who sanctifies, not us.

1 Peter 3:1
3:1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
NIV

I find it funny that is actually says, “without words.” How well does He know us?!

It is our behavior that will speak louder to our husbands. The Lord showed me that I could trust Him, and more importantly that I had so much more work to do on myself! If I would obey the Lord and do MY job in this marriage, He would take care of the rest.

I got a mental picture of the Lord standing before my husband and me standing in the middle of them getting in the way. When I finally stepped back, I saw the Lord do amazing things in my heart and in my husband’s heart.

Our faith became real to both of us.

Prov 14:1
The wise woman builds her house,
but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
NIV

A familiar verse, once again is so true.

Let the Lord, His Holy Spirit, do a mighty work in you by handing over the burden of your husband’s walk with Christ to Him. It’s not yours to carry.

Pray for your husband. But first pray for yourself, that you would honor the Lord in your marriage and be the Godly wife He has called you to be. Let your actions speak louder than your words.
It’s a prayer I pray often and I still remind myself of this truth:
There is a Holy Spirit, and it’s not me.

I’m praying for our marriages,
Sue

Raisins Are Ugly

I was making my husband's favorite cookies today, oatmeal raisin. And I took note of something so profound. Raisins are ugly.

Really...dried up, shriveled, lifeless little pieces of what used to be considered fruit.
And sadly enough, this made me think about some Christians.


Here is how a California raisin is made:

Grapes must be dried before they can be called raisins. The moisture content of the Thompson seedless grapes, from which natural seedless California raisins are made, is reduced by cutting the fresh grapes from the vine and allowing them to dry in the sun until the moisture level is roughly 15% to 18% water or lower.

Notice...to become a raisin, they must be removed from the vine...then left out in the sun to dry...basically sucking the life from the grape.

John 15:5-8
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
NIV

The grape needs the nourishment and protection of the vine to bear fruit and live. So do we. OR, we can walk around like an ugly raisin. And unfortunately, many do.

I am always amazed that we can (for instance) stand in a church service singing "Shout to the Lord all the earth, let us sing- power and majesty, praise to our King!" in the same monotone voice that we would rattle off a shopping list.

Now I know there are always those that say, 'I am not very expressive...I worship God the way I want to and it may be different than you'....blah, blah, blah.
Really? So let me ask...when your little girl gets all dressed up to show you her new dress and the ribbon in her hair...you look at her and emotionless say: "that is nice hunny" without even a smile??

That's what we do to God.

He's created the universe!
Think about it...CREATED the UNIVERSE....and we talk about Him as if He's as common as sliced bread.

Excuses me, but THIS is the God I'm talking about...

Nahum 1:5
The mountains quake before Him and the hills melt away.
The earth trembles at His presence, the world and all who live in it.
NIV

And I think He especially loves it when we honor Him...BEFORE the earth starts trembling and the mountains quaking.

Don't be a raisin Christian...stay attached to the vine ~ HIM ~ and show the world what true joy looks like.
Lay down our offenses and insecurities, quit complaining....and celebrate this awesome life He has given us!!!

If your heart is broken...bring it to Him for healing, He promised He would. And start living the life He intended you to live before the foundations of the earth!!!

Don't be a raisin...raisins are ugly.

Praising Him!

I know I posted this a while ago, but it's one of my favorites and I want to share it with my new girlfriends! Watch it until the end, you'll love it!!!

We'll be praising Him at Martin Reformed Church today with Lauren's preschool class as they do special music :)

We had a blast!!

Well, the first Praise and Coffee Girlfriend's Weekend has come and gone and it was so much fun!
One thing that was not needed- icebreakers...
From the time women started arriving there was a dull (and sometimes not so dull) roar coming from the conference room.

We laughed, we cried...we worshipped.

And I cannot thank God the I was able to spend this weekend

with amazing women from over 46 churches!!

This is the TEAM that made this all come together and go so smoothly.
THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Click on pictures to enlarge

If you would like a copy of one of the pictures, email me and I will send you an invite to my Snapfish acct and you can order whatever you like.

More pics HERE.

Our next event is a Praise and Coffee Night at the Plainwell Coffee Mill.

April 23rd at 7 PM

I'll be talking about.."What to do when everything changes."

The March Winner and Life with 4 Boys!

The March Praise and Coffee Winner is:

LadySnow
Congratulations!!!!

Thanks to all who entered, come back again April 1st for another giveaway!

************************

And here's another guest post from my good friend Denise

(click on pic to visit her blog)!

Where is my birthday?

Our youngest turned three this month. I found out it’s hard to describe to a three year old that it’s his birthday. I put a Happy Birthday banner above his chair at the table so he could see it when he came down for breakfast. All he knew about his day is everyone was singing one of his favorite songs and he wanted a Bob the Builder cake at some point. As we were taking his older brothers to school that morning, our birthday boy asked us all a question not one of us could answer….

“Where is my birthday?”

We tried to tell him his birthday was the whole day. All day. But he couldn’t see it and so he was sure that it was not his birthday.

As I thought about that later throughout the day, trying to figure out how to explain ‘today is your birthday’, I got to thinking it’s kinda like God.

Stick with me here!

How do you explain to someone that God is everywhere and in you and in Heaven? If you do know, explain this to me because we have tried to explain it to our boys at various times. You know there is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, but you can’t see them. They are there, there is no doubt.

As there is faith. I love describing faith like the wind, you can’t see it but you can feel it, you see the evidence of it, you know it is there.

I tried this with our birthday boy. See, you can see the birthday banner. Here is your cake. Open your presents. It IS your birthday today!

This seemed to work. Not like any child is turning away a gift to say ‘nope, I don’t think it’s my birthday so I won’t open this gift”.

The very next morning, I had put away the birthday banner. All the wrapping paper and new gift boxes were thrown away. Our new three year old came bouncing down the steps (very rarely does he walk slowly), burst into the dining room and promptly began to wail. I thought he had stepped on a piece of plastic toy from the night before. Nope, we found out. It was that the birthday banner was gone. “I not three! I just two!” he wailed.

So, how do you explain that one? Without the birthday banner, he was sure it was not his birthday and he had not even turned three.

But you know that can be like us too. Not surrounded by believing friends or in our church environment, or on our own Bible study in our home, we doubt greatly. A tough situation comes upon us and doubts pound us. Are we really saved? Is God really in control? Does God really care?

But the truth is, God is there. He is in control, even in the darkest moments.

Just like my little guy is really three, whether he has a birthday banner or not.

Two shall become One ~ Tuesday

This past week I sat with a girl friend who was reeling with pain. Her life had been turned upside down by the actions of her father. She explained how he suffered from depression this past year after losing everything he'd worked so hard for through this struggling economy. The thoughts of living his twilight years in despair instead of comfort were too overwhelming and shameful for him. Instead he chose a bullet to end his life while his bride of many years slept in the next room.
My heart just breaks for the pain he must have felt, and the incredible grief that suicide leaves for the family that lives. I'm so sorry for their pain. I've never seen my friend's countenance so heavy.

When the family talked to the officers, they said that unfortunately this was a common call of recent days. They've been seeing more and more cases among men since the increase in job loss and the decline in the economy.

Men are wired to be the provider. Their identity is wrapped around their job and how well they provide for the family. When a job is lost and things start to unravel, men feel like a failure. Often when they fail to provide, they feel they've failed as a man altogether.

Wives play an important role in this. We need to encourage our husbands and believe in them and their ability to provide as we struggle through changes in employment together.
They need to know that their wife still respects them and that she will stick by him no matter what.

You might think, well...my husband is a Christian...he should know that his job is not his identity- he is a child of God...
Ok, but he's also human, and God did set it in his heart to be the provider, it's instinctive for him.
We need to be especially vigilant to watch over our husband's heart and emotions.
Encourage, encourage, encourage!

1 Thess 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
NIV

Heb 3:13
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
NIV

According to Sampson Blair, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology at the University of Buffalo:

Living through a tough economy not only increases the risk of suicide, but other family dysfunction as well, including family violence, substance abuse and childhood neglect. According to Blair, "The economic situation also portends a significant increase in other forms of family violence, including spousal and child abuse, child neglect and other forms of dysfunctional behavior like substance abuse."

Dr. Blair says suicide rates are likely to increase two to three-fold because of the economic depression. Job loss, combined with loss of savings, and other family responsibilities are identifiable risks for suicide, and murder-suicide, and economic stresses can take its toll on other aspects of health.

Blair says, "Financial stressors are among the greatest risk factors for emotional disturbance and such physiological reactions as insomnia and high blood pressure."

We can change this for our family! We can help by de-stressing the home. That will mean different things for every individual home.

As wives, we start by de-stressing ourselves and that will happen through prayer and trusting God's Word in our lives. God is ultimately your provider. Look to Him in your time of need and let your husband see the peace that you walk in...that will be huge to him!

Set your heart on this passage, let is become hope for you so you can walk in peace:

Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
NIV

As your heart is filled with peace, let them pour out onto your husband and family. The Lord admonishes us to respect our husbands:
Eph 5:31-33
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
NIV

They need it now more than ever ladies! Use your influence to encourage other women to understand this also...we can make a difference in our families.

Let your husband know that he is worth more than just a paycheck.

I must add that ultimately we cannot control people's emotions. We must do everything we can to encourage, but we are all personally responsible for our own actions and we cannot blame another person if a loved one takes their life. If this tragedy has happened in your family, I am so very sorry and pray that the Lord brings comfort and hope to your home.

I'm praying for our marriages.

FYI...I'll do the March drawing for Praise and Coffee tomorrow so you have one more day to enter if you haven't already.

Praise and Coffee Loving Well Weekend!

Here's a quick peek at our weekend,

check out all these beautiful women!
There are just the pics from my little camera,

I'll have much better ones when I download the ones Carol took!

I'm out the door early today for Project Pamper, so excited to love on these women!

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Yesterday Emily, Norma and I packed over 100 gift bags with the stuff you donated- you ladies pour out the love!!!! We didn't need to shop for anything else which means we have a check for $500 to give to Sylvia's Place today(a place for women in crisis)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We Lifted Him Up!

I just wanted to put these songs up for those of you at the conference yesterday that loved them. They are the two that we sang Saturday afternoon.

It was such an amazing weekend. You all are so much fun.
I'll be posting picures and more soon...

Enjoy!!

High and Lifted Up



The More I Seek You

Pick My Up and Dust Me Off

If you ask me...who is smarter, you or God?
Of course I would say, God!
But do I really believe that? Always?
My actions would prove otherwise.

When I know what the right thing to do is, but then I choose a path that feels more comfortable...or EASIER....I am in effect saying: God I'm smarter than You.

I cringe at the thought of my own foolishness and pride.

His Word says:

Isaiah 55:8-9
8 "My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
NLT

So why do I doubt? Why do I take the path of least resistance?

For me, it all boils down to trust.
Do I really trust Him?
Do I really believe that He has my best interest at heart?

So many times there is a bigger plan that I don't see. I react and respond to the "here and now" situation instead of trusting that the Lord is at work in and through my life to bring Himself glory.

I can testify to the fact that choosing His ways, trusting Him completely (there is NO such thing as partial trust), and believing His Word that tells me of His incredible love for me...is the right way to live.

I want my life to be a reflection of His amazing love.

I have blown it, time and time again. And yet, if I will grab His hand, let Him pick me up, and dust me off...He will make beauty for ashes.

Isaiah 61:3
To all who mourn in Israel, He will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair. For the LORD has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for His own glory.
NLT

For His glory, not ours.

You are smarter than I, Lord help me to live a life that reflects how much I believe that!

My Girlfriendology Interview

Hello!

I did an interview with Debba from Girlfriendology a couple weeks ago. She is so sweet and we had a great conversation. Feel free to listen in, and by the way, Sam (the dog) makes a couple cameos in the interview. The little stinker was sitting next to me and every time I stopped petting her, she would yelp!

While you're there, sign up for their newsletter, they always have so much going on and you will love all the connections at Girlfriendology!!

Here is the interview: Sue Cramer at Girlfriendology

FYI- On the left, click on either RSS feed or Podcast feed to listen.

(By the way, our conference is now full with over 200 ladies coming!)

Also, I am over at the Internet Cafe' today.

You can read that here:

My article: ”I’m so glad that God is not like me!”

Note: Two shall become One ~ Tuesday will return next week!

March Praise and Coffee Giveaway!

Hello March!
I'm so excited for spring to come after our long Michigan winter!!

This month I am going to do things a little different...
I am giving away the book by John Piper, "Pierced by the Word"
It's an awesome book with 31 meditations that will bless your heart and soul!




And for the first time, I'll be giving away "Praise and Coffee" label coffee!!
You're going to love it!

ALSO, our good friends at Bayview Cards are giving you a beautifully handmade box of cards!

~> To enter the drawing, just post a comment to THIS post telling me one goal that you have in your life right now!

~> Please make sure that I have a way to contact you, or stop back on the 10th to see if you've won to claim your gifts.

~> If you have one of my "Praise and Coffee Giveaway" buttons on your blog, let me know and you will be entered twice.